July 2013 - Walking the Herriot Way

We went to Hawes in the first week of July 2013, with the intention of walking the Herriot Way, using our motorhome as a base. We stayed a the CC site in Hawes - a good standard, as you expect, but surrounded by trees, so no view of surrounding countryside. You could have been anywhere! There was also lots of gates and rules. We moved for the second half of the week to Honeycott - just the other side of the town. Equally good facilities, (albeit much smaller) cheaper than CC, cheaper wifi, and great views!

 Hawes is a great little market town, and in the warm July weather, very vibrant. It was harvest time, and farmers and their families were working hard to bring the harvest in whilst the weather was good. In the evenings, drinkers spilled out onto the pavements lending a really good atmosphere to the place. We ate at the White Hart Country Inn - good food, and had a drink in all the other hostelries in the town across the days we were there. The pub with the waterfall, The Green Dragon did great food too, and it's not more than a two mile walk from Hawes. There was an impressive artists studio opposite the pub, a lady who makes fantastic pictures with merino wool felt. We were lucky to be able to go the Hawes 'Great Midsummer Bash' on the Saturday night, a local music festival. The Burger Queen burgers were fab ( local too).We enjoyed Sugartown, and the headliners The Exploding Buddhas.

Eaten by midges at the Bash

We walked the Herriot Way, a four day walk from Hawes, using local buses and the local 'dial a ride' community transport. First day we caught the bus from Hawes to the start of the walk, Aysgarth. We followed the River Ure, and a disused railway track back to Hawes, via Hardraw Force, whcih is in the 'back garden' of The Green Dragon. (However, we didn't visit the Green Dragon then, we went back another time).

 The second leg we set off from Hawes, up Great Shunner Fell, part of the Pennine Way, and onto Keld. We had booked a taxi back from Keld. We awaited the taxi whilst having a restorative beverage at the Keld Lodge Hotel. Whilst we were there, lots of walkers on Wainwrights Coast to Coast trail arrived. Apparently this is a popular overnight spot for this route.

At the top of Great Shunner Fell

Cairn on Great Shunner Fell

We ended up not walking the following day, as we had a bit of trouble with our 'van. No gas coming through. BB established it was the regulator, so we had to go an get a new one. We have to pack everything up to run up the motorway to Catterick Caravans, where we were able to buy a replacement. This was also our last night on the CC site, we needed to move the next day, so we had a couple of enforced rest days. This was when we walked to the Green Dragon, and bought a ticket to go and see Hardraw Force.

Hadraw Force

By now, we had discovered the local 'Dial a Ride' white bus, and we telephoned and arranged to be collected early the next morning to be transported to Keld, to begin the next leg of the walk to Reeth. We arranged to be collected that afternoon from the village green in Reeth. This leg was another climb up to Gunnerside Moor, where there were remains of the lead mining industry. We met some lovely locals when we stopped for a break. This is now a grouse moor, and the grouse can pop out to surprise you! There were no birds of prey to be seen though. Rumour has it that the grouse moor owners don't like birds of prey.........

We had excellent fish & chips that evening from the nearest takeaway to our campsite. There are facilities a plenty in Hawes. For the final leg of our walk we employed the helpful dial a ride man again. Essentially you can book the minibus outside of 'rush hour' morning & evening, when it does the commuting trips to and from the station to a timetable.Our driver, a volunteer,  was very nice, with lots of local knowledge, having retired to this area from Manchester. Reeth to Aysgarth, via Castle Bolton, which was very interesting - we really love arriving somewhere on foot.


Travelling home ( via Liverpool to see some old friends) we headed to a CS -  Lapwing Hall Farm, with a fantastic view of the Roaches. There is a pub nearby, The Lazy Trout, which served a great meal. We diverted to Leek to buy a local map, and it was quite stressful to find somewhere to park the Motorhome. We stayed at Lapwing Hall Farm for 2 nights - it was very peaceful, and we really enjoyed the view.  We did the Roaches walk, from our campsite all the way to Lud's Church (apparently the inspiration for Sir Gawain’s Green Chapel) and back. We missed out Hen Cloud, saving that for another time. It was fairly challenging, as there was a good deal of scrambling up rocks from the approach we took. We also has to pass by a farm where the farmer seemed to have 'flooded' the footpath with slurry, causing us to get slurry over the top of our boots, quite yukky, to be honest, and right at the beginning of the walk. The Roaches are a gritstone cliffs, and there are many wierd rock formations. It was quite busy, with walkers and climbers, ascending some difficult rock faces. It was a clear day, and we had brilliant views across to the Cheshire plains.

Trig point on the Roaches

On the way back south we visited Calke Abbey NT site in Derbyshire. Calke Abbey has been preserved in the state in which the NT took it over; a state of decay. As with all NT properties is presented in a very interesting way. At the gatehouse we were given a CD, to listen to as we approached the house. It is a long drive, and an actor narrates the voice of the last owner, so before you arrive you begin to understand the story.

Then we really did head for home, after a 19 day tour, altogether a bit fitter!